Title: Light from Heaven
Series: Mitford Years (#9)
Year: 2006
Author: Jan Karon
Summary: Father Tim Kavanagh has been asked to "come up higher" more than once. But he's never been asked to do the impossible-until now. The retired Episcopal priest takes on the revival of a mountain church that's been closed for forty years. Meanwhile, in Mitford, he's sent on a hunt for hidden treasure, and two beloved friends are called to come up higher. As Father Tim finds, there are still plenty of heartfelt surprises, dear friends old and new, and the most important lesson of all: It's never too late. (from Goodreads)
Main Characters:
~ Father Timothy Kavanagh
~ Agnes
~ Cynthia Kavanagh
~ Father Timothy Kavanagh
~ Agnes
~ Cynthia Kavanagh
Review: I’ll admit straight up: I haven’t read any other book by this author before. Meaning, I haven’t read any of the previous eight books in this series. I think that was both good and bad for me. How so?
Bad because I was jumping into the conclusion of a story I hadn’t followed since the beginning. Many characters appeared briefly, apparently having larger parts earlier in the series, but I didn’t connect with them emotionally since I didn’t follow their adventures and trials. Honestly, I really didn’t care about them. And that’s what happens when you jump into a series at the very end.
Good, however, because every time a character from the past showed up, the author summed up the backstory. So in the end, I got the information I needed to put the character in context. In a way, this book was almost strong enough to stand on its own without the need for any of the previous books. Which… I think there’s a little bit of a problem if a book can stand alone without its series. If it can do that, you can do what I did here: read the last book and still get the whole story.
Anywho, onto the plot itself.
Father Timothy Kavanagh is a small-town priest who, with his wife, is currently farm-sitting “in the sticks.” Although he has people and errands and animals to keep him busy, he feels that he’s not doing anything with his life. That is, until he receives a new commission from his bishop: revive a closed church and get it thriving again.
When I read the synopsis for this book before I cracked the cover, I was expecting a long tale chronicling the trials Timothy would have to go through to get this church to thriving again. As a pastor’s daughter myself, I’ve seen the struggles that ministry presents – particularly those in reviving a church. However, Timothy seemed to have no problem getting the job done. He finds the church in a well-kept state, with everything it needs already stocked and ready for use. The mysterious caretaker is a kind, religious woman and her son, both of whom are eager to see the church come back. Timothy wonders at first who will attend the church, but on their first Sunday, he counts seven people. Second Sunday, they’ve doubled to fourteen; after that, there’s no mention of him having trouble with attendance. They need a piano – and someone gives them one. Everything goes right for them. Maybe it was just a really good, religious location, but from my experience, it was pretty unrealistic. Sorry.
The whole book felt like a romanticized Hallmark movie with a little bit of the good ladies of Cranford thrown in. The plot and multiple subplots were semi-cheesy and predictable. I think the only plot twist I didn’t see coming was the wind storm that knocked the chimney down – but even that didn’t seem to be a bad thing. Timothy’s wife was only inconvenienced by the mess in the house and the workmen mending the chimney. I’m almost ashamed to admit my favorite parts were identifying what lunch J.C.’s wife packed for him every day. Unfortunately, the author stopped giving us those details after a few lunches.
Bad because I was jumping into the conclusion of a story I hadn’t followed since the beginning. Many characters appeared briefly, apparently having larger parts earlier in the series, but I didn’t connect with them emotionally since I didn’t follow their adventures and trials. Honestly, I really didn’t care about them. And that’s what happens when you jump into a series at the very end.
Good, however, because every time a character from the past showed up, the author summed up the backstory. So in the end, I got the information I needed to put the character in context. In a way, this book was almost strong enough to stand on its own without the need for any of the previous books. Which… I think there’s a little bit of a problem if a book can stand alone without its series. If it can do that, you can do what I did here: read the last book and still get the whole story.
Anywho, onto the plot itself.
Father Timothy Kavanagh is a small-town priest who, with his wife, is currently farm-sitting “in the sticks.” Although he has people and errands and animals to keep him busy, he feels that he’s not doing anything with his life. That is, until he receives a new commission from his bishop: revive a closed church and get it thriving again.
When I read the synopsis for this book before I cracked the cover, I was expecting a long tale chronicling the trials Timothy would have to go through to get this church to thriving again. As a pastor’s daughter myself, I’ve seen the struggles that ministry presents – particularly those in reviving a church. However, Timothy seemed to have no problem getting the job done. He finds the church in a well-kept state, with everything it needs already stocked and ready for use. The mysterious caretaker is a kind, religious woman and her son, both of whom are eager to see the church come back. Timothy wonders at first who will attend the church, but on their first Sunday, he counts seven people. Second Sunday, they’ve doubled to fourteen; after that, there’s no mention of him having trouble with attendance. They need a piano – and someone gives them one. Everything goes right for them. Maybe it was just a really good, religious location, but from my experience, it was pretty unrealistic. Sorry.
The whole book felt like a romanticized Hallmark movie with a little bit of the good ladies of Cranford thrown in. The plot and multiple subplots were semi-cheesy and predictable. I think the only plot twist I didn’t see coming was the wind storm that knocked the chimney down – but even that didn’t seem to be a bad thing. Timothy’s wife was only inconvenienced by the mess in the house and the workmen mending the chimney. I’m almost ashamed to admit my favorite parts were identifying what lunch J.C.’s wife packed for him every day. Unfortunately, the author stopped giving us those details after a few lunches.
Advisory: A woman confesses to having a child out of wedlock, but the matter is handled discretely. A few deaths are mentioned; some characters talk about past murders, but nothing is described graphically.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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